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Re: Safest appetite stimulant for HCM cat

I m interested in this too, my cat had two horrible reactions to his appetite stimulant this week. I wont be giving it him again. I hope your cat pulls through

Message 1 of 6
, Mar 23 9:17 AM

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I'm interested in this too, my cat had two horrible reactions to his appetite stimulant this week. I wont be giving it him again.

I hope your cat pulls through Sarah. Must be such a worry.

--- In feline-heart@yahoogroups.com, Sarah Wadey <rascasse@...> wrote:
>
> Dear All,
>
> I haven't posted very much about Rascasse and can't pretend to even regularly lurk as I spend more time on the CRF, Anaemia and FAF boards. So hello to most of you!
>
> Ras has HCM and end stage CRF.
>
> I think he is crashing. We are going to vets today. I think his BUN is causing too high toxin levels, but should wait for professional diagnosis.
> He has stopped accepting assist feeds and his breath is starting to smell acidic.
>
> I hope we can save him with some IV fluids and anticipate if all goes well needing to use appetite stimulants.
>
> Currently he takes Benazepril, Amlodipine, Atenonol, plus phosphorous blocker Al(OH)3.
> He has LRS fluids twice a week
> ESA/EPO shot once a week for severe anaemia which was under control with PCV at 34% two weeks ago.
> B12 jab every 3 weeks
>
> Previously he has not done too well with either cypro or mirtazapine and I know that they can both raise HR and have negative effects on BP.
> Laurabolin (nadorlone) injections did seem to work. That was before he had HCM and I wonder if anabolic steroids are a bad idea for HCM cats?
> If they are ok, would it be safer to use the pill form (ethylestrenol) over laurabolin injections?
> How quickly do the pills take effect? the injection takes a couple of days to work.
>
> Any thoughts on safe or dangerous appetite stimulants would be gratefully appreciated
>
> Many thanks
>
> Sarah & Rascasse x
>

Christina Felty

Have you tried feeding warmed Hills A/d? Also when my cat came home from the hospital after a bought of diabetic ketoacidosis brought on by inappetance and

Message 2 of 6
, Mar 23 9:21 AM

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Have you tried feeding warmed Hills A/d?

Also when my cat came home from the hospital after a bought of diabetic ketoacidosis brought on by inappetance and pancreatitis I opted for an e feeding tube. It was a minor surgery and pretty inexpensive.

This was so much better than syringe feeding and I am of firm belief that it helped him get through his period of lack of appetite to one day he started eating on his own.

> Hi Sarah
>
> I am sorry Ras is getting worse. Steroids can be very dangerous for a HCM
> cat as they can push them into heart failure by retaining fluids. They
> should only be given if a last resort and there is no alternative usually. I am
> sorry I don't know anything about appetite stimulants.
>
> Lyn.
>
> _www.myfurkids.co.uk_ (http://www.myfurkids.co.uk/)
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

r schu

Sarah and Rascasse, Not knowing Rascasse s kidney values, fluid amount, etc I can t really comment, but you didn t list an anti nausea med. such as

Message 3 of 6
, Mar 23 4:46 PM

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Sarah and Rascasse,

Not knowing Rascasse's kidney values, fluid amount, etc I can't really comment, but you didn't list an anti nausea med. such as ondansetron, or an acid blocker such as pepcid or zantac.

If his breath smells acidic it could be stomach acid from crf. If you read crf support you are familiar with pepcid or zantac dosing.

I would not start an appetite stimulant if a cat might be nauseous or have acid stomach, classic crf issues. Stimulating an appetite while not addressing possible nausea or acid could be even more unpleasant.

I'd try an acid blocker to see if that helps, the ondansetron for nausea, before stimulating his appetite.

Ondansetron is supposed to work fairly quickly, like within one dose, and the acid blockers are fast acting as well.

Hope this helps.

-Lee and May
(crf support list members for years and now heart members as well)
====================
Fri Mar 22, 2013. Postedby"SarahWadeyrazzmans_mum
Dear All,
I haven't posted very much about Rascasse and can't pretend to even regularly lurk as I spend more time on the CRF, Anaemia and FAF boards.
So hello to most of you!

Ras has HCM and end stage CRF.

I think he is crashing. We are going to vets today. I think his BUN is causing too high toxin levels, but should wait for professional diagnosis.

He has stopped accepting assist feeds and his breath is starting to smell acidic.

I hope we can save him with some IV fluids and anticipate if all goes well needing to use appetite stimulants.

ESA/EPO shot once a week for severe anaemia which was under control with PCV at 34% two weeks ago.

B12 jab every 3 weeks

Previously he has not done too well with either cypro or mirtazapine and
I know that they can both raise HR and have negative effects on BP.

Laurabolin (nadorlone) injections did seem to work. That was before he
had HCM and I wonder if anabolic steroids are a bad idea for HCM cats?

If they are ok, would it be safer to use the pill form (ethylestrenol) over laurabolin injections?

How quickly do the pills take effect? the injection takes a couple of days to work.

Any thoughts on safe or dangerous appetite stimulants would be gratefully appreciated

Many thanks

Sarah & Rascasse x

Sarah Wadey

Thanks everyone for all your kind replies, it s greatly appreciated. Hi Lyn, it s great to know we need to rule out Laurabolin if it gets suggested. Thank you

Message 4 of 6
, Mar 24 8:34 AM

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Thanks everyone for all your kind replies, it's greatly appreciated.

Hi Lyn, it's great to know we need to rule out Laurabolin if it gets suggested. Thank you so much. It's really helpful.

Hi Binarina - I'm sorry I don't know your name. Sometimes vets prescribe too high a dose of appetite stimulant and it can be scary. But with the right dose they can be useful. However after using various ones with Ras before they scare me too and I'll do everything I can not to use them.

Hi Christina, Ras actually stopped accepting anything other than A/D about a month ago, so I already feel it saved his life and is a great tip had I not already employed it. of course his BUN and P shot out of control from previously stable numbers, so we re-inrtodued renal along with ham treats in btwn which he was bribed with for a bit! He has been assist fed since last summer although goes through spells of eating well in between feeds.
Some time back my vet & I discussed what we would do when Ras stopped eating. We agreed that we would exhaust every possible avenue to get him to eat again, except one. A feeding tube. Not because we don't agree with them, I know many who have used them successfully, but because we will allow Ras to 'call it' when he his kidney's have had enough. I am happy to syringe feed him for as long as his body can take it and will continue to try to find the cause of his loss of appetite to get him back on track. But when his kidneys are no longer able to cope (not before) we will not be using a tube. I don't think it would buy him enough time to justify the trauma. I may of course feel differently when am forced to cross this bridge, so decided it was best to try and think about it clearly before hand. Of course judging the right moment will be tricky, so for now we keep on trying because he clearly wants to be here.

Hi Lee & May, thanks for your concern. Rest assured I do not intend to use appetite stimulants until we know what we are dealing with and treating it appropriately. I'm fairly sure Ras is not suffering from nausea - and doubtful it is an acid problem although it's on our list, just not near the top as there are quite a few other likely suspects we are exploring. So I really just wanted to know about appetite stims for HCM cats so that I would be armed with the knowledge if the time comes - but not for use yet. I do appreciate your sincere concern about this and your good advice.

Thanks again

Sarah & Rascasse x

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